


Deep Breath

by Statementends (Blueberryshortcake)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Jon is still a nerd, M/M, Power Swap, The Buried - Freeform, The Buried like to cuddle, The Upside of fear powers, the vast
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-03
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2020-07-30 06:13:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20092588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blueberryshortcake/pseuds/Statementends
Summary: The Buried and the Vast weren't enemies. Or if they were no one had bothered to tell Martin and Jon.





	Deep Breath

They probably never should have met. 

Martin was tightly packed dirt, choking, surrounding, clinging. Jon empty space, terrifying heights, instability, open air. 

And maybe they were supposed to be enemies. They were opposites. Jon said as much. He was clever. His research had gotten much further than Martin's who had mastered his own powers, but knew little of the Others, as Jon called them. 

“Twelve?” Martin asked. 

They’re on the roof, the sky above them covered in endless stars. Jon was against him, Martin practically clinging. Perhaps he was worried he’d fall into the endless sky, or maybe he wanted to. All the fresh air filling his dirt laden lungs was an exciting prospect. 

“Give or take. There are a few that might have subcategories. There’s us of course.”

“What do you call us?” Martin liked hearing Jon talk. His voice could go so deep and reach and never end. 

“Claustrophobia and Agoraphobia.”

Martin hummed.

“You don’t agree?”

“Oh! No--no it wasn’t--well… I mean… I think we’re a bit more than textbook definitions.” 

He shifted and pulled more blankets over Jon, maybe worried he’d float away. Jon only shifted for a more comfortable angle. 

“That may be…” He admitted. 

“Something… cooler,” Martin winced, but continued on, “Like… the Hidden and the Free.” 

Jon’s face twisted, pained by the suggestion.

“Okay so maybe bad examples.” 

“It makes us sound… I think it’s too uplifting,” Jon admitted.

Well.. yeah, that was true. He was. He did… trap people. Still he sort of liked it. 

“And… freedom… that’s not… that doesn’t quite work.”

“Can you fly?”

“What?”

“I’ve always wondered.”

“Well… sort of…” Jon frowned thinking about it now himself. “I just... Fall. Or sometimes I float? It depends.”

“I don’t need to breathe much either,” Martin said. “I mean… not a lot of air under the dirt.”

“Sounds cozy.”

“It isn’t.”

“No. I guess it wouldn’t be.”

“I like it though… even though I still… I’m afraid it will swallow me, there would be nothing worse than that, but I still… It feels so right to be buried.”

“The buried. That works better.”

“Huh? Oh--...yeah… no I think you’re right. The Buried. You were going to tell me the other ones.” 

“The Buried then, and the limitless?”

“The Vast,” Martin suggested somewhat dreamily. The stars made him feel poetic… Jon didn’t seem the type for poetry though. 

“I… yes.” Jon agreed. “The Vast. And then there’s Fire, or maybe Malicious Cruelty. There’s more than one of them. A whole cult.”

“Really?” Martin perked up. It had just been him so far. Jon had been the closest and they were opposites on this … spectrum. Even Jon said he had met others like him, although they didn’t group together. 

“I think they can recruit, or perhaps they’re good at finding others like that. Maybe Cruelty is just common.” 

Martin’s grip was probably bruising, but Jon didn’t try to pull away, still content wrapped up, slowly sinking into the roof’s concrete. 

“Did … the old man try to recruit you to a cult?” Martin asked.

“No. Only gave me a black credit card and free rein. There’s so much space for all of us to cover. That’s probably how we like it. He was… old though… not just his face but… something about him.” Jon shook his head. “I’m not really sure. The Watchers seem to group together too, although I’m not sure if they’re even aware of it.”

“Watchers?”

“Have you heard of the Magnus Institute?” 

Martin snorted. “Wasn’t that a meme awhile ago?” 

“They seem to have a lot of people that… watch others. In a … creepy way.”

“They have a … vibe?”

“Yes.”

“Watchers. Hm.” 

“The Puppets. They’re…” Jon shuddered. “I met one and I was glad to be parted. I’m really not sure what they represent. Fear of clowns? Fear of the strange? One encounter and I can’t look at shop mannequins the same way again.”

“What happened?” Martin held his hand tightly.

“It said how wonderful it would be to wear my skin. I didn’t stay for the offer.”

Martin shivered. “Ugh. Moving on?”

“Disease, Pestilence, and Spiders. They overlap in some ways and don’t in others. Right now I’ve separated them. The Spiders I think are entirely different, but they have enough similarities with Pestilence. I think they’re about… control though. There’s the Kill. Animals, humans, mindless slaughter for meat. There’s… death. Unsurprising that it would have its own category.”

“It’s not with the Kill?”

“The kill is … fear of the violence of death. Death is the fear of the nothing that’s after… if that makes sense.”

“Yeah, a bit too much. I … thought of that sort of stuff a lot before… well…”

“Yes… so did I…” 

“Two more?”

“The Lukas’”

“Oh… I know them.”

“Do you? I don’t know what they represent, but I know they’re something. I can never get close.”

“You shouldn’t.” He wanted to bury Jon in the dirt for protection, or in the concrete. Jon’s form wouldn’t allow it though. Martin’s legs were in, but Jon only made an impression like on wet beach sand. 

“I won’t.” Jon promised. Or sounded like he promised. He was too quick to rush into things. Expose himself to danger. Maybe that was part of his nature. 

“They feed off… loneliness.”

“The… entire family? That doesn’t seem…” 

“Trust me.”

“Right… that’s… that is interesting though.” 

“What’s the last one?” He wanted to stop talking about the scope outside their own. Those beyond deep earth and endless sky. 

“Madness… or Deceit. That one is hard to pin down. If you ever notice doors that weren’t there before steer clear, it’s one of them. He’s--it’s? ...Pesky.”

Martin snorted. “Pesky?”

“I think it’s trying to be playful. I’d rather not be trapped in what’s behind the door.”

“Hm, maybe it’s one of my people?” 

“I don’t think so. It’s… he doesn’t feel the same as you.” 

“How do I feel to you?” 

Martin expected the word clingy even as he tried to loosen his grip. 

“Secure,” Jon said. “Stable. I feel like I’m rushing to meet the ground most of the time now. Exposed. With you I feel… safe? Perhaps that isn’t a word I should attribute to people like us… I’m sure you could do terrible things to me if you felt like it, but I just… I feel comfortable. I can catch my breath with you.” 

“Oh,” Martin said softly. He had thought… that maybe he was being silly, or even defective...but Jon… “I… when I’m with you. I can breathe. I feel… sunkissed and… free.” He blushed, running his mouth with bad poetry wasn’t impressive. Jon was smiling anyway like it was, bless him. 

Jon stood with massive effort, Martin and blankets and concrete holding him down. But light as air he managed and held a hand out. The stars were fading. 

Martin let himself be pulled. He wanted to retreat into the dirt. He wanted to hold his arms out and feel the wind. Maybe the Buried and the Vast weren’t enemies. Just… opposites or… complementary fears? The grass is always greener? Dirt is always softer? No that wasn’t a metaphor… 

Well, whatever, he liked spending time in Jon’s company. 

“I could help… with your research if you wanted.” He didn’t mention not finishing school. They weren’t quite… there yet. Jon perked up though. Jon probably went to University. Not only that, Jon probably liked his time at University.

“You would do that?” 

“If you want, and we could meet and… exchange information.” Martin suggested. “I mean. Not that we don’t meet now, but just… maybe more often?” 

“Oh. Right. Yes. Like a--”

Don’t say date. Don’t say date. “Study group--”

“Date.”

They stared at one another. The dawn didn’t reveal Jon’s flush, but Martin sensed his embarrassment. 

“Date,” Martin squeaked trying to sound like he agreed, but just managing to sound flustered himself.

“I--maybe I didn’t--”

“No! No! I mean--I would like. Yes. I would like to date you… is that allowed? Are there… rules about this sort of thing?” 

“I think we can make our own rules. No one’s bothered to keep either of us informed.” 

“No weird fire cults for us.”

“Right.” Jon nodded. 

“Yay team…”

There was lots of space between them now. Maybe Jon had done that out of instinct. Maybe it was Martin’s own anxiety that even being a monster hadn't fixed. Martin never thought of Monsters being scared of things, but apparently it was what fueled them. Go figure. 

“Well I should… ah…” Jon gestured to the ledge. He had almost given Martin a heart attack the first time he had made his exit by stepping off a five story building without hesitation. 

“Right… I… yep.” 

Jon smiled at him awkwardly. Moved closer to escape.

“Jon? I… I had a good time.”

Jon’s flush was apparent now, the sun peaking up in the sky. 

“Me too.” He mumbled and was gone. 

Martin sunk into the cement of the building. Butterflies swarming his stomach. He needed to feel the deep compression. He would be cooler next time. 

He took a deep breath though, before sinking all the way in, thinking of Jon’s smile. Jon’s flushed cheeks. Jon not pulling away. 

Jon calling it a date. 

A few seconds later the rooftop was empty. No one had used the door. 


End file.
